Chapter Twenty-one
Ace, standing patiently outside the garden, heard his name called to return. He opened the little iron gate, a bit of rust coming off in his hand, and strolled calmly down the stone path. He had lit one finger to light the way, admiring the beautiful, well-groomed, bushes and trees. It was a peaceful night, and he was unprepared for the knowledge he was about to receive.
Sabo, the woman, and Mizuki all were facing him. Arika, as she was called, was the only one standing. She walked up to him, her serious expression catching him off-guard. She was so like Yuki... a beauty even when sick.
"Ace." Her voice was the same.
He looked down at her. "What is it?"
"You know who I am," she said simply.
"You're 'Arika', right? Or are you..."
She stood, inches away, waiting. He knew, but he didn't want to admit it. He couldn't process it, his mind shied away from the idea that she could still be alive. He was afraid she would blame him. He was scared of what she might say.
"You're..." he trailed off.
"Say it!" she snapped. "You know, but you don't want to know. Just say it, please."
Ace nodded, swallowing nervously. "You're... Yuki. You really are, aren't you?"
In that moment, she hugged him tightly. He felt her warmth, unnaturally so, and let go of her. Something was very wrong. She was Yuki, yes, but thinner, sickly. She looked tired, worn down by life. Or death.
She looked hurt to be pushed away. "What is it? Do you hate me, now?"
"No!" Ace exclaimed. "You're... you're too warm. More than usual. Mizuki, come see! I think she has a fever, or something!" He was suddenly very scared. She was alive, alright. Both Mizuki and Sabo had known.
The two people sitting on the bench stood up and rushed over. Sabo gently placed a hand on her forehead and got a scared expression. Mizuki did the same, amazed at the temperature. Her captain was running a high fever, warm enough to make the fire users realize it.
"Yuki, are you okay?" Sabo called. She felt her vision going fuzzy, and started to collapse in another coughing fit. There were hands on her, strong and reliable, that kept her from hitting the floor. They lifted her up and set her on the cool bench.
Mizuki looked at her hands. "Maybe I can heal her. If someone doesn't try right now, something really bad will happen to her." She lit her flame, the innocent silver light glowing bright and... cool?
She had finally figured it out. "Ace," she called, "help me. I need to get part of her dress off so I can touch the scar!" She indicated the area to him and he carefully pulled apart the midsection of the dress.
Her stomach looked bruised here the scar was, darkened blue and purple. There was obviously a lot of internal bleeding, and it seemed like she was coughing up about half of it. She feared that her captain may choke, so she ordered Ace to hold her upright.
Slowly lowering the cool silver fire onto Yuki's stomach, she instinctively knew it had worked. After a few seconds, the coughing had subsided and the dark bruising had almost completely disappeared. Mizuki sighed, realizing that her friend was now out of danger.
"It worked," Ace muttered, relieved.
Sabo let out a sigh of relief and collapsed, himself.
Mizuki looked at her friend, grinning. "Hey, Yuki."
Yuki smiled back. "Remember, I told you you could try it on me?"
"Yeah, I remember," Mizuki said, crying. "It worked. You're gonna be alright!"
Yuki laughed weakly. "Can I sleep, now?"
Mizuki nodded. "Yeah, you can sleep now," she whispered.
Ace carefully held the exhausted pirate, letting her rest. He looked up at his friends and waited for an answer. Among his many questions was the typical 'who' and 'how'. He was happy she had been revived, but he was curious about the circumstances.
"So, Mizuki can heal with her fire. Sabo, how did she come back?" Ace asked quietly.
"Well, I revived her," Sabo replied. "Healing that huge hole was a task, let me tell you. I obviously didn't do it right, too. I'm going to have to apologize for that when she wakes up. You know she's alive, but that was me being selfish."
"You being selfish?" Mizuki asked.
Sabo nodded, frowning. "She was really angry with me. Worried about you all and what you might think of her. She was also worried about being killed in front of you again. In the end, she agreed to stay alive and help her friend, mainly you and Luffy, from the shadows."
"So that's how it was," Ace said, understanding the situation. "So, she's back now, and I end up meeting her shortly after..."
He suddenly blushed very red, and Mizuki had an idea to what it was about. She laughed quietly, and started to comment on it. Sabo was just really confused.
"Hey, Ace! Now you get a chance to confess directly," she teased.
"Be quiet," he whispered angrily, still blushing.
Sabo shook his head, chuckling. "We should move her to a bed. The ship we came on has plenty of room. I'll take you before going back for Koala and Robin," he said, thinking ahead and planning. "Dragon gave me the rest of the night off, so I can hang around with you guys and talk for a while."
They walked quietly along the edge of the crowd, Ace still carrying Yuki. He seemed very reluctant to let Sabo take her for a while, so Sabo let him carry her the rest of the way. Mizuki kept a watchful eye out for anyone acting suspiciously, but no one was paying any attention to the four of them.
They found Koala on the ship, packing supplies purchased from the little shop Yuki had bought her mask from. Koala saw Ace carrying Yuki and looked worried, so Sabo stayed above deck and explained what had happened while Mizuki and Ace went below deck to find a bed to put her in.
When Ace returned above deck, Koala and Sabo were in an argument.
"She needs to rest! She can't go running around every which way at the command of Dragon, joining us on missions! She doesn't have the energy for that," Koala shouted, Sabo wincing as if she had hit him.
"But he was kind enough to take her in!" Sabo shouted back.
Koala glared. "You're his favorite, Sabo! If you asked him to, he'd let you do anything you wanted! Ask him to let her rest for a few weeks." Koala was clearly of the opinion that Yuki needed time to rest and heal.
Sabo sighed. "Mizuki can heal her again, and then she'll be alright. We can take her on missions!" he exclaimed, trying to convince the revolutionary.
Ace butted in. "I think she needs one week, at best. Sabo and I know that she heals quick and easy. She'll be better in no time, Koala."
The woman gave him a death glare. "Hell. No. She's staying behind at Baltigo for two weeks, at least. If Dragon orders otherwise, I will march right up to him and demand he change his mind!" she replied viciously.
Mizuki opened the door and stepped out. "I think we should let her decide that for herself. Or a doctor. You guys do have a doctor on Baltigo?"
The tension vanished. The situation had passed, Koala and Sabo looked guilty for getting into such an argument in front of their friends. Mizuki was the only one thinking of consulting an actual medical doctor rather than just guessing and hoping they were right.
"So, you do? Why didn't you think of that earlier?" Mizuki asked again.
Ace laughed nervously, and Sabo scratched his head.
"Well, the four of us grew up in the forested mountains on Dawn Island with a bunch of mountain bandits. We didn't have that kind of luxury, so we just cleaned the wounds and bandaged them up. Whenever something was really bad, we'd visit Fuusha Village," Ace said, explaining to her.
Sabo nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We couldn't go to a doctor very often."
The three of them looked at Koala, who had been silent while the boys were offering their explanations. She seemed uncomfortable, but only Sabo knew why. She had been a slave before being saved by the Fishmen Pirates.
"Well, I was a slave, so..." she muttered, her sentence trailing off.
Mizuki nodded in understanding. "So, remember to visit the doctor if you have a chance!"
Sabo started laughing. "Yeah, sure!"
Soon, all four of them were joking and laughing.
Nico Robin had been deep in discussion with some scholars from a distant country when she noticed Ace, Sabo, and Koala run past her. Ace, she noticed, was carrying Yuki. Curiosity sparked, she decided to follow her friends.
After another two or three minutes of debate about the Poneglyphs, she bid her new acquaintances a farewell and departed. Based on the direction the four were going, she judged them to be heading to the ship they had docked.
She wondered what was wrong, but it was no big deal in the end. When she boarded, the others were laughing and play fighting like nothing had happened. They explained the problem to her, but they had gotten it under control and told her not to worry.
Robin suggested that they set off for Baltigo. "I don't think that any of us feel the need to stay any longer than we have. Mizuki, Ace, you have your own ships, right?"
Mizuki nodded, and said, "Yeah. It's small, but it's mine. I'm docked over a bit. I'll follow you guys if you'll meet up with me in Alabasta. It's the nearest island we all know and have visited before, right?"
The others chimed in with agreement.
Ace pointed out, "My ship is more like a little boat. Well, you'll see what I mean. I can bring it up on board and sail with Sabo."
Robin laughed. "I remember. Your ship is small, but well suited for your power."
Sabo looked excited. "Really? Can't wait to see it!" He started to prep their ship for the short journey to Alabasta, letting Mizuki and Ace off, prepping the sails and pulling the anchor up out of the seawater. After the fiery pirate returned with what Robin called a "wave rider", the five of them set off for the sandy deserts of Alabasta.
I apologize in advance if I take nearly a week to update the next chapter!
As many (if not all) of you know, it's the holidays, and I have many family gatherings to go to.
Thank you for your patience!